After being out of the state for about 15 days, I have had a time getting over the exhaustion of travel and bronchitis. It has taken me just as long to recuperate as it did the traveling time.
I realized it is time to go before my Father God in prayer and resting. It is time to be anointed in a new oil. A refreshing of the Holy Spirit.
I Am Emptying My Alabaster Box
Author: Patricia Aman
Have you ever just felt like throwing your hands up and screaming? If you say NO, I will pray for you because we all have felt this way at sometimes in our life. There are times like these when we need to have a Mary Heart. We need to go and pour ourselves out at the feet of Jesus.
As I think of Mary anointing Jesus feet. She once was a broken person, but, Jesus touched her. Because Jesus had touched her and gave her a new life, the Holy Spirit spoke her to anoint Jesus, preparing Him for the steps He would soon take to walk the Road to Calvary.
I love the story of Jesus, Mary and the Alabaster Box.
I often tell people, “do not judge others by what you see, because you do not know what is in their Alabaster Box!” Quote: Pat Aman
She broke a box of ointment and poured it on Jesus. This ointment was valued at 300 pence. Pence was the daily wage of the average worker. Therefore, in modern terms, it was worth about $15,000.00.
This spikenard was produced from a rare plant that grew in India. It was very expensive, and many people saved for years to be able to provide this for their own funeral preparations. However, this woman, poured it out on the Lord Jesus.
A lot of preachers teach about how expenses the oil/perfume cost. Others teach that it meant Mary was giving her best, her all. But, I think of it this way. ‘What was really in Mary’s Alabaster Box?
I like to imagine that as she broke the vessel so that she might extract every drop of ointment for use on the Lord Jesus, she was also showing Jesus every broken part of herself.
The vessel was her broken life, filled with the oil of all the hurts, sorrow, jealousy, hatred, disappointments and even happiness that she had experienced. Yes, she had paid a great price in her life, the way she had lived, but, Jesus only saw the broken vessel as clay that He could mold into a beautiful vase. And he did not judge or smell the unpleasant odor of her sins, but the sweet-smelling aroma of her love and her willingness to sacrifice everything to follow her Lord and Savior.
Whatever you may think about when reading this story, Mary gave all she had to Jesus for His glory! She totally opened herself up to Him. She did not try to hide one part of herself.
I wonder have we broken the Alabaster Box of our lives and poured out ourselves, every drop for Him? All the brokenness of our sinful lives.
God is seeking people who have surrendered everything they have, everything they are and everything they hope to be. He is looking for people who will assume the place of servants before Him. He is looking for those who will merely respond when He speaks to them. He is looking for those about whom He can say, “They have done what they could.”
I think of Apostle Paul also when I read this story. In 2 Timothy 4, he says,“6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
I feel that after Mary anointed Jesus, she also, felt the very same way that Paul did.
Are you now ready to break the Alabaster Box of your life? Please right now, open your Alabaster Box to Jesus. He is waiting to pour His glory out on you, as you give glory and honor to Him.
We must all be Mary’s in our worship. We must totally empty our Alabaster Box at the feet of Jesus. Mary did not care what Martha thought. She did not care about what all the men in the room thought. She let her hair down in public, which was totally something a women did not do, and gave her entire worship to her Savior. She poured her heart and soul out. She totally emptied herself.
Sounds like that is what you do also….It is what we all need to do….Not worry what is going on around us, what others may think. It is just about God getting His glory.
Blessings, Love, and Prayers,
Pastor Pat
(Nehemiah 8:10) “The Joy Of The Lord, Is Your Strength.”
(Proverbs 17:22)”A Merry Heart Does Good, Like Medicine, But A Broken Spirit Dries The Bones
This devotion is a 1989-2020 © WestBow/Thomas-Nelson and Patricia Aman
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